Hello all!
I am the owner of a 2016 Nissan Versa SV that I bought new from a dealership in Dec 2015. I have been overall really happy with the car and been careful to treat it right with regards to maintenance schedules (either having it done at a Nissan dealership or keeping a careful record of me doing it) and driving habits (not accelerating suddenly all the time, full stop before switching gears, following the break-in period recommendations for the CVT, etc).

I am at the 72k miles/51 month mark and the famous Nissan CVT has suddenly started misbehaving within the last week. I was at the end of a 80-mile drive on the highway when took an exit and reduced the speed, I found that the car's acceleration was delayed significantly (like accelerating from 35 to 40 had a 5 second delay) and the RPM were surging up and down (even when maintaining constant speed). I pulled over to check what was going on, thinking I was leaking fluid or something, but roadside Googling led me to believe it was obviously a problem with the transmission.When I went start up the car and reverse out of the parking spot, it refused to shift and no power was going to the wheels. I had to turn off the car and try again in a few minutes, after which it did finally shift and back out, but there was still a long delay between me pressing the pedal and the car responding.

I took the car to my local dealership (who has a record of my bringing in my car for the MPI checks and oil changes since I moved into the area) and described the problem. I got the mailer from Nissan corporate that discussed the Nissan CVT lawsuit settlement that contained the information about the extended warranty to prove that my car would be covered.

As a refresher, here is the relevant portion contained in this mailer:
The Settlement provides an extension of the Nissan New Vehicle Limited Warranty on your Class Vehicle’s transmission from 60 months / 60,000 miles to 84 months / 84,000 miles (whichever occurs first) (the “Warranty Extension”).
First they tried to tell me that the CVT settlement had nothing to do repairing the transmission (what?) and that it only meant that if Nissan's transmission failure got me into an accident that they would pay related expenses (gee thanks, like customers need permission to sue a company for dangerous failures).
Then they took the angle that my car would not qualify for a CVT repair/replacement under warranty because I did not buy the extended warranty. I pointed out, on the flyer and on Nissan's corporate website, that the factory warranty was extended and my car would fall into the warranty period extension.
The last tactic they tried was to say that unless it was throwing the right OBD code (mine has no codes), that Nissan corporate wouldn't cover warranty work and I would be on the hook for them to inspect the CVT and 'see if there's actually a problem'. I got the impression that their 'inspection' is nothing more than sticking in an OBD reader in the port and calling it a day, in which case they won't find squat and I would owe them $120.

I usually don't want to assume the worst of people but is this dealership staffed by a bunch of chuckleheads with questionable reading and worse deduction skills or is this a common problem with trying to get the CVT warranty repairs done? Since I declined to pay them $120 to stick a OBD reader into my car and call it perfect, the transmission has randomly refused to shift out of park sometimes (even on shorter drives) and even to accelerate properly after being stopped at a stoplight. The only solution is to either go into park and turn the car off and on or to hope that no other car is coming while it takes 30 seconds to go from 0 to 30mph. I am already leery about trying to turn into traffic and merge in case the CVT decides to fail again in oncoming traffic.

What is the next step here? I can call corporate and talk to them but I don't know if they will tell me the same thing (no codes=no problems) or how much influence their decision has on a dealership. I know that dealerships already don't like doing warranty work because they don't get paid as much from corporate versus charging the customer directly. I am stumped on how to proceed other than to A) intentionally break my poor car to make it throw a code that they then may or may not decide will cover a repair or replacement, B) keep driving until it dies mid-turn and causes an accident, or C) pay for the CVT repair on my own without the warranty. Any advice?

You are under no obligation to have this work done at the dealer you purchased it from. Unless it's an extreme (and I mean EXTREME) inconvenience, take your car to a different Nissan dealership. Some are more willing to work with you than others. Having a 2nd opinion will give you a better idea on how to proceed.

The reason they're balking at doing the warranty work comes down to money. They have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to Nissan Corporate that the work is covered by the warranty, otherwise the dealership eats the cost of the repairs.

Agree with Rogue One. Sadly, many new car dealers will try to decline obvious warranty claims and It's not limited to just Nissan. I faced similar battles regularly with Ford and Chrysler dealerships over new cars I leased. Trying another dealer is a good strategy but there is a chance they might take a similar defensive posture. After going thru a similar dealer experience as you, I had my independent mechanic diagnose the problems. He then documented it in writing for me and confirmed if it was indeed something covered by warranty. Then every time the dealership declined coverage (and they did), I immediately went the next step up the ladder and contacted the manufacturers rep armed with my documentation. In every case, I easily won and the repairs ended up covered. It was certainly annoying to have to repeatedly go over the dealer's head for something so obvious, but it had to be done. Good luck!

I would suggest that in addition to forwarding your problem to the Nissan ombudsman you contact your local TV station "troubleshooter" or whatever they call it locally. A little inquiry from a TV newshawk can sometimes result in fear of bad publicity and a "good faith" repair.

Use registered mail with return receipt requested in any correspondence. E-mail is too easily discarded or not opened.

According to NHK news, Nissan has started fielding a new design CVT. This may be a basis for a class action suit ? I will leave that up to the many hungry ambulance chasers out there.

Yeah take a video of it acting up.
Also, post the name of the dealer and person that told you it wasn't under warranty here.
Finally, call 1-800-Nissan1 and let them know what's up.

Welcome to NICO!

17 years with this junk and Nissan still won't stand behind them. Pathetic.

PapaSmurf2k3 wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 22, 2020 5:06 pm

Yeah take a video of it acting up.
Also, post the name of the dealer and person that told you it wasn't under warranty here.
Finally, call 1-800-Nissan1 and let them know what's up.

Welcome to NICO!

THIS.

We've got a long record of calling out clowns at dealerships, so post up.... We don't have the connections at NNA that we used to, but I'm sure we can put you in touch with someone who'd like to hear those excuses.

To use Japanese, he is "Warui kashikoi" sneaky smart. He is hoping to outlast your warranty at which time he will miraculously find the expensive corrective action. Keep records and take him to small claims court. He will try to avoid the court decision, but just sign over the court notice when the repairs are done.